Chapter 26

"Lord Shuzen, what should we do once we reach the Land of Whirlpools?" a Senju clansman asked. "The situation in the Land of Whirlpools must be terrible by now."

Facing one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, no one believed the Land of Whirlpools could win!

Shusen Senju pondered for a moment before saying, "If the Uzumaki Clan is in dire straits, our first priority will be protecting the Uzumaki clanspeople. At the same time, we will follow the Uzumaki Clan's command."

On a battlefield, the worst thing was hearing two different voices. It was better to warn them in advance, lest they refuse to follow orders and cause a conflict later.

"But the Uzumaki Clan..." They were all a bunch of hotheaded idiots! Once war broke out, they would charge forward roaring, all for glory and for the Uzumaki Clan, recklessly charging ahead without a shred of strategy. Were the Senju Clan supposed to roar and charge in too?

But before he could say it, Shusen Senju shot him a glare. He immediately swallowed the words, then awkwardly waved his hand.

As Shusen Senju looked at the Land of Whirlpools drawing ever closer, confusion filled his eyes. There should have been tremendous noise and tremors from the start. Why was it so quiet now? Had they arrived too late? Had Kirigakure shamelessly unleashed a Tailed Beast and forced their way through?

I hope there are still Uzumaki clanspeople alive. As long as someone survived, there was hope. But if they had all...

"What an ancient clan..." Shusen Senju sighed wistfully. Where did the future of the Senju Clan lie? They had begun to feel disheartened by Konoha. How long had it been since Lord Tobirama died? Yet those above were already plotting against the Senju Clan.

He wondered what decision the Clan Head and the others had made. Were they truly going to do this?

"I'm desperate too!!"

That was exactly how Hozuki Gengetsu felt right now. He had originally invaded the Land of Whirlpools with high morale, only to fall into one trap after another. By now, the cannon fodder had nearly all been wiped out, and even the support fleet had been completely destroyed. Oh, one ship remained...

Fuck, who knew how Water Moon was mocking him behind his back right now!

Heart of the Water Moon—everyone in Kirigakure knew of it!

He was truly exhausted! Not only did he have to hold back the invasion at the front lines, but he also had to guard against someone stabbing him in the back.

And besides...

Had the Uzumaki Clan evolved or something? How had they become smarter? They knew how to set ambushes and launch sneak attacks! And they fucking used Shadow Clones from start to finish! The Uzumaki Clan was not playing by the rules! Who fought a war like this? What use were Shadow Clones besides confusing the enemy?

They exploded at the slightest touch!

This war was making them utterly miserable, all right? Who fought a major battle by throwing money at it the whole time?

Now, dusk was approaching.

After a full day of defeats, the Mist Ninja had not gained the slightest advantage. They had been beaten so badly they were practically crying for their mothers. Although the Mist Ninja's heavy casualties today had been caused by Explosive Tags, not a single one had been taken out by a Shadow Clone!

They were all Shadow Clones. Just thinking about it was infuriating. Their side had suffered severe losses, while the other side had suffered severe losses too...

So the Land of Whirlpools really was rich!

After this battle, the citizens of the Land of Whirlpools would probably have to eat grass. Perhaps that meant nothing to the Uzumaki Clan. After all, their life force was powerful. A little grass would not kill them; it might even replenish their vitamins and help their bodies develop healthily. But Kirigakure could not afford it! They had paid such a huge price, only to return in disgrace. How humiliating! It would not just shame them, but the entire village. The other shinobi villages would laugh at them.

"What ideas do you have now?" Hozuki Gengetsu asked as he looked at the Mist Ninja below.

The Mist Ninja looked at one another. They had no idea what to do either! Their combat strength was no weaker than the enemy's; in fact, it was even stronger, but...

The Land of Whirlpools' shinobi had too much money. They had not lost in combat strength—they had lost to Money Power!

How about giving us some funding too, Village Head? We could buy a few hundred million Explosive Tags and have some fun as well.

But that was impossible. Their Mizukage would never be that generous.

The Mizukage's Assistant thought for a moment, then sighed. "We lost to arrogance, and we lost to intelligence! We underestimated them too much!"

And we lost to money too!!

The Land of Whirlpools was rich. Under its one village, one country policy, the entire nation and shinobi village were all one people, so obtaining funds was easy. But in the Land of Water... the daimyo was too stingy. To get money or request funding, they had to file reports layer upon layer, and in the end...

There was no money!

Wasn't that infuriating?! They were fighting a war and were not even given funding. And now that the fleet had been wiped out, the daimyo was probably already preparing to replace the Mizukage. How could he possibly send them money? Sending people to beat them up was more likely, and they still wanted money?

Hearing this, the Mizukage wanted to drag Takeo Horiguchi out and whip his corpse again. It was all because the vanguard was incompetent!

They had been there for so long, yet they had failed to spot so many Explosive Tags. They were practically blind! They had caused such severe losses. If there were ten shares of blame to divide up this time, Takeo Horiguchi would have to bear seven of them—no, spit, he should bear all ten! It was because the vanguard lacked intelligence that the Mist Ninja had ended up in their current predicament. If they had discovered the Explosive Tags earlier, Kirigakure would not have been forced into such a passive position.

Now morale had fallen apart, and the troops were hard to lead!

So many people had died without any gains. How could morale not collapse? Takeo Horiguchi was to blame for all of this!!!

Yet Takeo Horiguchi nearly clawed his way back to life just to write a huge character for "wronged" on the Mizukage's thigh! How was this their fault? The Whirlpool Ninja had simply never given them a chance! The moment they appeared, the Whirlpool Ninja would come roaring out and desperately block them from approaching. It looked as though they were fighting to the death, but it turned out they were only preventing them from discovering the Explosive Tags. How were they supposed to investigate? They could not get in at all!

He had even said that something seemed off with the Whirlpool Ninja and asked the Mizukage to wait a few days. But had the Mizukage not said it himself? The Uzumaki Clan was just a bunch of hotheaded idiots, and they had to act quickly! If they were not quick, Kirigakure would have to share this juicy prize that was the Land of Whirlpools.

What could he do? He was desperate too, all right? No method could get him in. How was he supposed to probe for mines?

Whipping a corpse was merely something Hozuki Gengetsu thought about. He would not actually do such a thing. No matter what, Takeo Horiguchi was his man, and he had made sacrifices for the village. As a high-ranking village official, he could not bring himself to do something so shameless!

After all, he cared about his reputation too!

"What should we do next?" Hozuki Gengetsu said seriously. This time, they could not underestimate the enemy again.

The Mist Ninja thought about it, but still had no idea what to do. They had too little intelligence and did not know what the Whirlpool Ninja were planning at all!

The Mizukage's Assistant considered it before saying, "Next, send out sensory ninja. If they encounter the Whirlpool Ninja, they must not get drawn into battle. Send a signal immediately!"

If they were ambushed by the Whirlpool Ninja again, they would be in trouble!

"If that is the case, then tonight, let us rest first..."